The thing about the Russia investigation most Republican flacks and partisans fail to understand: Had FBI Director Comey not been fired by their Dear Leader, it's unlikely there would be a special prosecutor right now. There would, however, be an investigation, because we have the indisputable fact that a foreign power -- Russia -- interfered in our election.

Instead of actually doing something about that, Republican flacks like Rep. Tom Garrett, Jr. are slithering onto CNN to tell Brianna Keilar their harebrained conspiracy theories instead of simply owning the fact that they're a bunch of cynical fools who belong behind bars rather than making "laws."

“This Russia investigation is essentially birtherism,” Garrett told Keilar. “Imagine if there was a politically funded investigation of President Obama’s place of birth where the levers of power were leveraged.”

Imagine that. Perish the thought.

Garrett is a special Republican snowflake. He bridges the gap between so-called traditional conservatives and the neo-Nazi wing of the GOP. He takes meetings with organizers of Nazi rallies like the Unite The Right organizer Jason Kessler, apologizing for it only after Heather Heyer died because of their evil.

When Keilar pushed back on Garrett's birtherism claims, he quickly shifted to the Fourth Amendment, as if he actually gives a damn about the rule of law! She kept trying to pin him down.

“I guess I don’t understand why you’re equating birtherism, which by the way was really spearheaded by President Trump, with this Russia investigation that is spearheaded right now by Robert Mueller,” Keilar insisted.

“Any contact then becomes the smoking gun?” Garrett whined. “That’s ridiculous. So, the crazy people who made aspersions against President Obama didn’t have the weight of the federal government being brought to bear to sort of flesh out those aspersions.”

Uh, Rep. Garrett. One of the loudest voices in the room with regard to those "aspersions" was Donald EFFING Trump, who not only legitimized it, but then pushed Steve King and Michele Bachmann, among others, to continue making an issue of it. The Arizona legislature actually tried to pass a law saying candidates for President had to produce their birth certificate! I guess maybe we shouldn't expect Republican frat boys who consort with Nazis to have a grasp of the facts, but there they are, nevertheless.

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Beyond the obvious whataboutism in Garrett's retort, there are also pesky facts: Russians interfered in our election. That is indisputable. It is equally indisputable that people inside Trump's campaign were in touch with Russians while Russia was interfering. It is also an indisputable fact that Donald Trump, Jr, who is definitely not the brightest bulb in the room, was thrilled with the prospect of getting dirt on Hillary Clinton from the Russians.

It's hardly clinking glasses at a cocktail party. Carter Page may be as dumb as a rock but he was still connected with the Russians AND was serving as an advisor on Trump's campaign.

I'm sure Garrett will apologize for this nonsense when the indictments roll down.

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